Roshaneh Zafar (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani development activist who works in the field of economic empowerment for women. In 1996, she founded the Kashf Foundation, Pakistan's first specialised microfinance organisation, which has served over 5 million women entrepreneurs and continues to pave the way for women's economic empowerment through its holistic financial services programme.
Career
Zafar grew up in Lahore, Pakistan, as the daughter of Pakistani politician S. M. Zafar and the granddaughter of noted musician Malika Pukhraj. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School, Zafar studied development economics at Yale University before returning to Pakistan in the early 1990s to work for the World Bank in Islamabad. In 1996, Zafar established Pakistan's first specialised microfinance organisation, the Kashf Foundation, in Lahore, inspired by Bangladesh's Grameen Bank and its founder Muhammad Yunus, with financial support from Yunus and her grandmother Malika Pukhraj, who strongly believed in empowering women.
Zafar was one of Pakistan's first Ashoka Fellows and a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur in 2004. In 2007, then-President Pervez Musharraf bestowed the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest civilian award, on Zafar in recognition of her contributions to development and women's empowerment. Zafar received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship the same year.
As a result of her work in women's economic empowerment, Zafar has served on multiple World Economic Forum global agenda councils, including those on the gender pay gap and Pakistan; she has also served as a member of the United Nations' advisory group on inclusive financial sectors. She was also a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Austerity and Civil Service Reforms from 2018 to 2020, as well as the Pakistan Medical Council, which promoted health-care reforms. She has served on the boards of several organisations, including Women's World Banking, the Pakistan Microfinance Network, Finca Bank, and Kinnaird College for Women, to name a few.
Zafar has also spent a lot of time in the media raising awareness about gender issues. In 2011, the first collaboration was with HUM TV on the drama series Rehaii (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehaai), which addressed the issue of child marriage. This was followed by Udaari (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udaari), a highly acclaimed drama serial on HUM TV about child sexual abuse awareness and prevention. Kuch Ankahi, the current Kashf Foundation production, is currently airing on ARY Digital.
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